Captain's Legacy
by KitFisto'sGirl
Summary: Amelia's point of view of treasure planet. funny, charming, and romantic. ok, ok, I know it's been dome before, but this was my first fanfic and my pride and joy so please review!
1. Adventure

_At one o'clock, 1:03 to be precise, Amelia and John Arrow, stood on the deck of the R.L.S Legacy. There was no moonlight to guide them, for the spaceport that they were on was the moon. But they had amelia's eyes, and that was enough. It was just the two of them moving all the heavy cargo. But they had John's strength, and that was enough. It was very...lonely, with everyone else gone home. But they had each other, and that was enough._

"Well, John, I think the ship is ready for the new crew Tomorrow," I said, coiling the last bit of rope.

" Yes Amelia," said John, "It certainly is. And you're the one who did it." he smiled lovingly.

"Oh, don't turn that mushy flibber-flobber on me." I said teasingly. "Remember the restaurant lady who thought we were in love? Preposterous scandal, if you ask me."

"It Wasn't that bad," he protested. "All she did was tell half of montressor"

"All she did? ALL?" I snorted with laughter. "Oh yes, but you fancied her. I remember you holding me back from using her as a punching bag, just because she had big bosoms, that, if I recall, were ridiculously revealed by her shirt" I laughed some more.

John blushed. " Well... Um..." he stammered. "arrgh, Amelia, you always beat me in these arguments. I give in. He pulled a rope from his pocket and dangled it it front of me. It was sooo hypnotizing. My ears, twiched. I narrowed my eyes. I had to kill that string. I jumped, and John pulled away the rope. I fell flat on my face.

"John, you pulled the string trick again" I said, laughing.

" Well, It sure makes you look like an idiot" he replied

I squealed and ran over to tackle him him, and for a moment, rolling around the deck, we were children again. But, As always, we remembered that we did have responsibility now,(not to mention reputation, what if someone saw a grown hybrid and rockal, in the middle of the night, at the spaceport on the deck of a ship, rolling around and acting like children?), so we both got up, sighed, and went back to inspecting the last small bits of the ship. It had been three days since we had signed the agreement with Doctor Delbert Doppler, and we were expecting his crew to come tomorrow, along with him and Jim Hawkins.

Wait, I think I should go back and explain. This whole thing started when someone named Jim Hawkins found a map (and managed to burn down his mother's inn in the process). This map happened to be the map that showed the way to the legendary Treasure planet. Or, everyone thought it was a legend. So, he and his friend, the aforementioned Dr. Doppler, decided to go looking for it. Their only problem was: they didn't have a ship, crew, or captain. So, John and I had volunteered. The regular crew of honest, loyal spacers could have gone, too. But, that blasted Dr, Doppler had insisted on choosing the crew himself. They were arriving tomorrow, and I didn't know what to expect. So, John and I had made the ship look perfect. Little did we know that this was our last normal day together.

The new crew was awful. They came in at three o'clock instead of five, which was the first bad omen. Then, when I'd finally gotten dressed, John had come in and said, " Amelia, Whatever you do, don't look outside" I looked. The new crew had obviously had some accidents and problems while getting into our ship, because everything was messed up. " They must've attempted to climb the walls, instead of using the ramp" said John.

I snorted. " What are they, pirates?". The idea was so absurd that, for a moment, John and I laughed together. Then, we walked out together to meet the crew.

I will state this plain and simple, with no fancy words to describe it. The crew was creepy. Now, I must admit that, Of all the aliens, 75% of them are creepy. I was lucky not to be a creepy alien ( well, I'm actually a hybrid, but really, what's the difference?). I am very nice looking, even beautiful( According to every fellow who crosses my path, Including John). I am human,except for the catlike ears that almost constantly move, long fingernails ( so long and sharp that I had to cut little slits in my gloves for them to poke through), two slightly pointed front teeth near the front of my mouth, and abnormally large eyes with catlike pupils. I am also very small, light, and agile. Anyway, back to the crew. It looked as though someone had looked for the creepiest aliens in the galaxy, and put them together to make this crew.

John Introduced me. "This is captain Amelia, and she will be your captain for this mission." I slapped my forehead in despair. John could be so dimwitted sometimes "_captain Amelia is your captain?"_ _How much more dimwitted can you get?_ I thought. Then it occurred to me. John wanted me to say something to the crew. I didn't know what to say. I hadn't given a crew speech in years! _damn_, i thought. _I'm acting like a child. Pull your self together Amelia!_.

" well," i said to the crew. " you heard Mr. Arrow. I'm your captain, and i expect your behavior to be appropriate, and no fighting or gambling at anytime is allowed on this ship." They all told me their names. I swear most of them were Rusinian, because there were only six members of the crew who spoke proper Montressian. Mr. Scroop, a slimy-looking insectoid alien, Mr. Turnbuckle, the pilot, Mr. Patricia, who had only two chickenish limbs and a head, spoke like an old granny, and was a girly, Gay guy, Mr. Turnbuckle, the navigator, and Mr. Sams, who was a kind if two-in-one alien. I was so disgusted with the crew that I was about to open my mouth to dismiss them. Then, another figure stepped forward from the shadows.

" pardon our earliness, cap'm, the crew was exited 'bout gettin' here, cap'm" he said.

I gasped as I saw that he had a mechanical arm and leg, as well as a mechanical ear and eye. He was a cyborg.

" Pard'n me cap'm" he said, noticing my staring. I blushed a little, knowing i should have acted more captain-like " I hope me mechanical parts arn't startlin' yeh, many a cyborg are the tough kind, but me, I'm always happier a'way down in the gally, I'm the cook, cap'm, Mr. Silver at yer service cap'm" he bowed respectfully. I was flattered. " that's quite allright, Mr. Silver" I said politely. I turned to the rest of the crew. " if your all the same as Mr. Silver, here, then we'll no doubt have a very pleasant mission." the crew all stared at me. " Now that the rules are clear, you can go off to your assorted jobs, which i hope you know. You are dismissed". I said. They all left, Silver with a bow and a, "greatest apalogies, cap'm". John and I headed back to my stateroom. "well, that was unexpected, John" I said.

"it was," he agreed

"i wish we could have used our own crew" i complained, for, as nice as silver might be, the crew was disgusting.

"yes, curse that stupid Doctor Doppler, whoever he is" said John.

At precicley 12:01, Mr. Jim Hawkins and Dr. Doppler walked onto the ship. I wasn't there to greet them. I was inspecting the ship , as i always do before takeoff. I inspect the ship in a very strange way. I usually climb up the mast, and use the ropes to swing around the ship, inspecting everything. And if you happen to be the unlucky sailor that has one speck of dirt in their area, then may god have mercy on your soul.

I didn't pay much attention to them as they walked onto the deck. Then I noticed John talking to Hawkins and the Doctor. I heard him say "the captain's aloft. As much as i would have liked to, i knew i couldn't leave John all alone with them. So, with a ginormous, over exaggerated sigh, i swung down on a loose coil of rope. I was done inspecting anyway. As I swung through the air, I thought to myself,_ act calm, unconcerned, brave, tough, and official._ I landed what john calles my "captain pose", which is just planting your feet about one-and-a-half feet apart, putting your hands slightly behind your back, and putting your chin up, just enough to make you look slightly arrogant (which, belive me, took hours of practice in front of either the mirror or John). I heard a clanging sound, and saw it was who i guessed was the doctor's face clanging shut. Wait, no, not his face, i realized. He was wearing a freakish, yellow, fatish-looking space suit ( by the way, all space suits all went out of style about a million years ago), and it was the visor of the completely round helmet that was clanging shut. I internally gasped. Whom i guessed was Hawkins, was a regular human teenager, rebellious looking, but normal. But the doctor.. he was..oh god...oh hell.. he was a _hybrid_. I had thought I was the only hybrid in the universe. I was shocked, but I didn't let it show. I had to be in control. Still, I went up to him, looking at him curiously, " Doctor Doppler, I presume". He didn't reply. Thats when i realized that he probably couldn't hear me through his thick helmet. "hello, hello, can you hear me?" i tapped on the glass of his visor. He struggled to pull his helmet off. I guessed he could probably hear me. " You know Doctor," I said, as sweetly as i could, " This works much better when this is right-side-up," I turned the nectrorion square on his spacesuit, " and," I picked up a cord from the ground, " plugged in". I immediately did so.

" Excuse me" said the Doctor, unplugging his cord( once he had taken his helmet off). "I can handle my own plugging," he held out his hand to me in which he thought was a threatening gesture, and it would have been, except he was still holding the plug. That's when I realized the obvious. The doctor was an idiot.

"yes,yes, nice to meet you too," I said, Ignoring his rude gesture by knocking the plug out of his hand and shaking it.

John introduced me. "welcome aboard the _R.L.S. Legacy_. this is the captain".

"hello, I'm Capitan Amelia," I said, not wanting to go through the embarrassing scene that had happened that morning. "late of a few run-ins with the Procyon armada, Nasty business, but I'm not going to bore you with my scars right now." They both looked shocked. As in "how could this perfect body have _scars_?" I paused a moment to enjoy the flustered looks on their faces. "and this," I added, turning to John, " is Mr. Arrow. Sterling, tough, honest, brave, and true"

"thank you Ma'am" said John. I hated it when he called me Ma'am.

" Shut up Arrow, you know I don't mean a word of it" I said in a half whisper. Then I looked at the doctor. He was staring at me. Not at my face. At something else on me. With a start of shock, i realized he was staring at my ..um...well...boobies. "what is the matter with you?" i yelled.

"oh, um..nothing" he stammered. " so, are you ready to go on this adventure?" he asked me, oblivious to the fact that i was NOT impressed with him. "oh, and this is Jim Hawkins, the boy who found the map to the treasu- -" I cut him off from finishing the word "treasure"by grabbing him by the mouth. Good thing i had gloves on.

" I'd like to have a word with you in my stateroom" I whispered angrily, pulling his face closer to mine so he could hear without me moving toward him. When you're a captain, sometimes you have to get up close and personal.

In my stateroom, a richly adorned room, complete with a wooden safe that currently held a few guns in case of emergency, a table with five chairs, all mahogany wood, and various rugs and pictures. " now, _Doctor_ Doppler" i began, cooly, but letting my anger show just a bit. " Talking about the treasure in front of this particular crew displays a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic." I pushed up his chin with my fingernails. " and I mean that in a very caring way"

"borders on the imbecilic, did you say?" the doctor said, outraged, " now see here-"

" Now, Mr, Hawkins, the map please" I demanded, looking at the boy.

the Doctors jaw dropped at my formal but rude interruption. Then, trying to be important, held up his finger with a wise expression on his face, but when he turned to face Jim, his face went back to normal. The boy, after a moments persuasion from the doctor, took the map out of his pocket and tossed it to me. Perhaps he hoped for me to miss it, I do not know. But my cat reflexes made it possible to catch the awful throw that he sent me. I studied the golden orb in my hand with interest. Then I remembered: Hawkins and the Doctor were watching, and I'd let my guard down. I quickly covered my look of interest with a look of disdain. I then turned around and locked the map in my wooden safe.

" now doctor." I said, "I'll make this as...monosyllabic as possible. I don't care much for the crew you hired. They're-" I turned to John "what did I say this morning? I said something rather good, I recall" I made my fingeres walk up Doppler's nose, making him wince. I felt very in control. Good.

"A ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots, Ma'am" John said.

"there you go," I said to an astounded looking Doppler, "poetry"

the Doctor began to protest "you know, I simply can't see why..."

"now doctor," I said, once again interrupting the idiot, " I'd love to talk, tea, cake, the whole shebang, but I've got a ship to launch, and you've got your outfit to buff up," the doctor looked as if I had slapped him in the face.

"Mr. Arrow, take Mr. Hawkins and the doctor to their quarters." i said, resisting the urge to slap the doctor. " and Doctor, with the greatest possible respect, _zip your howling screamer_. That's all," I said, right into their surprised faces, " You're both dismissed. John herded them out the door. I hoped he'd be able to handle their anger when he told them that Hawkins was working for the ship's cook.

In a few minutes, John was back, sniggering.

" what's so funny, John?" I asked.

" the Doctor" John said, " he was angry with you, and the best thing he could think of to do was call you a feline behind your back"

" A _feline?_" I said, also sniggering, " that must've taken all three of his brain cells

as much as i would have liked to skip the launching, I had to go anyway. I am the captain. Everyone seemed ready. Well... except for the doctor, in his ridiculous spacesuit. "all clear?" i called to the alien in the crows nest, Mr. Onus , a Rusinian alien with an incomprehensible Rusinian accent, and an equally incomprehensible Rusinian last name.

"all clear captain," he called. But, with his accent, it was more like " Ahll c-hleeahr capeetahn". I went and took my respective spot next to John.

"Well my friend, are we ready to raise this creaking tub?" I asked. That was a nickname Trevor had given the ship.

"My pleasure captain" John replied. "All hands to stations!" he yelled, "Loose all solar sails"

the sails came loose, and filled with solar energy. It was amazing to see, but you get bored of it after your first few journeys. A few seconds later, the ship took off. We all started floating, because, there was no gravity anymore. John and I stood strait, with our arms crossed, which you can learn to do after much practice. The doctor, on the other hand, floated upside down, his limbs flailing uselessly.

" put on the artificial gravity". I said to the alien operating the switches (whose name i can't even begin to pronounce, because he was flatulan). The artificial gravity came on, and John and I landed perfectly on our feet. The doctor, however, landed headfirst on the ground. I fought back laughter. "Full speed ahead Mr. Arrow, if you please!" i ordered.

" TAKE HER AWAY!" John yelled down the tube which led to the engine room.

The doctor pulled himself back into a standing position. "brace yourself doctor" i said. He straitened his back and tried to plant his feet firmly. The ship shot forward. John and I, along with the rest of the crew, stood firm. The doctor went shooting backward past me and hit the back of the ship. I probably would have felt pity for him, but i was trying too hard not to laugh.

After the launch was over, John and I were free to go back to our stateroom, which we did. As soon as I closed to door, we both burst out laughing. " the...idiot...big fat blob...zooming by.." i was gasping for breath.

" floating...upside down... gravity crash" said John, also gasping for breath. We started laughing hysterically. I was on the floor, with tears of laughter streaming down my cheeks. After what seemed like a half an hour of laughing, we got up and pulled ourselves together.

" wine, John?" i asked. ( by the way, we grew up drinking wine, so we drink a lot, but neither of us are addicted.) " of course, of course" he said. I poured us both glasses of Rusinian Goldson ( very expensive). As we started talking, I found my mind drifting to the oddest subject. The Doctor. I wondered who he was going to talk with tonight. No one, probably. Why did i care, anyway?

"...And, Amelia, what do you think of the doctor?" John interrupted my thoughts.

" I think he is the biggest idiot i have ever seen" I replied. "Like you .You've got rocks for brains John! I don't think disintegrating your head would hurt you at all!" I said teasingly.

" well, I don't think that disintegrating your bra would do you any harm, either" he countered calmly.

I faked an offended gasp. "Are you insulting my cleavage, John?" I asked. That did it. We both started laughing really hard again. Every time one of us stopped, the other would say "gravity crash" or "cleavage", and we'd both be laughing again.

That night, My wine cabinet had diminished by four bottles. I started to feel high spirited. "John," I asked " Do you want to play Truth or Dare?".

"Well, yes, actually". He said, looking a bit high spirited himself.

"all right, I'll go first. Truth or Dare" I said.

"truth"

" would you like to get married, if you had the choice right now?"

"no, not really, I get all the love i need from you." John said, which made me feel really good. "My turn" he said.

"Dare" I replied.

We kept playing Until midnight. We decided to do one more round. It was my turn.

"dare," I said.

"Kiss me" John said. I was shocked. But, were brother and sister (even if I am adopted), and I was high spirited, so I pulled him close, so i could feel his body touching mine. It felt good, even if I only went up to his lower shoulders. Then our lips came together. His lips felt good, too. Rough, in a gentle way. Our nice moment ( it wasn't really romantic), was ruined by a clearing throat noise. We turned to see the doctor standing in the doorway, with his bedclothes on.

"Excuse me" he said. "Your talking is keeping me up, It's very loud" . He could have added "and vulgar" but he didn't have to. His tone said it all.

"Oh" I said, embarrassed. "we were about to go to sleep, anyway". The doctor left

" That was embarrassing" said John.

" yes, now lets get some sleep" i replied. I pulled off my coat, and crawled into bed, To tired to even change into bedclothes.

The next day, I woke myself up by rolling out of my hammock at 5:00. I had a splitting headache. Cursing myself for drinking so much and staying up late, I pulled my coat on. I walked into my stateroom to have breakfast, and I saw The doctor and John sitting at the table, eating. "what is he doing here?" I asked John.

"he is a guest, a gentleman, and the patron of our voyage, so is eating with us" said John, sounding a lot more formal than he had last night. I swear, the man (well, Rockal, to be percise) could never get a headache.

"All right" I sighed. John didn't seem to be bothered with the Doctor at all. Probably because he was more focused on eating what looked the doctors' spacesuit. So, I focused on my food as well, nibbling on it.

" Are you eating _bacon_?" the doctor asked in disgust.

"Yes, I am, do you have a problem with that, doctor?" I asked, lazily, as if I couldn't care less.

"Well, It's just that I find bacon entirely revolving...uh...revolting." he said.

"you're one to talk, look at what you're eating." I said. It was true. He was eating what looked, ( and smelled) like wet dog doctor turned a dirty look on me, but kept eating, as if that was more important to him. But I wasn't fooled. I could see his eyes darting towards me every few seconds.

After breakfast, we went up on deck. (I was also hoping that the fresh air would clear my awful, atrocious head ache). Just then, a herd of Orcas passed by.

"upon my word!" gasped the doctor. "An _orcus galacticus_". He leaned down to take a picture.

"Doctor, I wouldn't stand there if I were you" I warned. Just as I said that, the Orca that the Doctor was trying to take a picture of sprayed out It's crap-colored spray. Right onto the unfortunate doctor. I giggled.

Later that day, I was, I would like to say. Ambushed by Mr. Silver, the ship's cook.

" Ahh, tis' a fine day fer salin'," he enthused. I glared him. He seemed not to notice. " an' look at yeh!, trim an' bonnie as a sloop with new sails an' a fresh coat o' paint!" he leered at me.

" you can save your flim-flammery for spaceport floozies, Silver" I said. His eager look melted. His pet morph, (I'm not sure where he got it) morphed me.

" spaceport floozies, spaceport floozies" It said. Then, overcome by the foolishness of it all, I turned and walked into my stateroom. Later, John told me that Mr. Hawkins had gotten into a fight with Mr. Scroop, and he'd had to break it up. " Scroop wasn't too happy about that," he laughed.

The next two days passed without much happening,( unless you include moving the furniture in my stateroom " move the table over _there_, John, not in the center, people will trip on it,") the doctor and I kept building our enimity, having formal-seeming but cold jabs at each other. For example, " Doctor, do you have trouble hearing, your ears seem to be abnormally shaped". To which he would respond,

" you're one to talk, you, with the triangular prisms atop your head."

Then something happened, which, I like to say, Started the real adventure.

The fourth day of our voyage was unusually and obnoxiously loud and busy. A little too loud and busy for me and my sensitive ears. (especially with John yelling for everyone too be quiet at the top of his lungs, he's never been very bright). So, I decided to take a little boat ride. After telling John where I was going, ( I'm not sure he heard me), I ran down to the docking bay, got into my favorite ship, and prepared to take off. If I had known what was going to happen after that, and the chain of events it would set off, changing my entire life more than the death of Trevor Arrow, than, trust me, I would not have even considered going anywhere _near_ the docking bay. But, call me a fool if you like, I didn't know what was going to happen, so I took off, not knowing what the damn hell I was getting myself into.


	2. Loss

_Free at last!_ The thought rang through my head as a piloted the longboat away from the ship. It felt good to be free, even if it was only for a little while. And, speeding alone through space, the wind ruffling through my hair, there was no other word that could describe how I felt. The flame of pure happiness inside me was doused however, when I heard someone say, " Hmm... how interesting". I immediately jerked around, startled, to see the doctor sitting behind me, reading a boring book, not aware that he was in a moving ship.

I was furious. " Doctor, what are you doing here?" I demanded.

" what? Who said that? Wait... what?" he looked up. Shock registered on his face. Then it dawned on him. " oh captain, I'm so sorry. It was just so loud and I wanted a quiet place to sit and read and I sat in this boat and I didn't know you were going to take it out and..."

" that's quite all right, Doctor" I said, cutting him off. Even though it wasn't all right, I was too frustrated to listed to his dimwitted apologies. But, as John said, I had to try to make the best of every situation. "well, while we're here, we may as well have something to drink" I said, pulling a small bottle of wine out of my pocket. The doctor stared. " what?" I asked.

" you drink?... well,... very unexpected" he managed to stammer.

" here," I said, pulling out another bottle, " have some"

" oh,no, I don't drink" he said.

I was annoyed. Did he ever do anything except read? " go on, dimwit," I said, " have some"

he reluctantly excepted.

A few hours later, we were, well, drunk. As I turned the longboat around to go home, he grabbed me. Not on the arm, but on the thigh. A little pang of fear ran through my body. What was going on? what did the Doctor think he was doing? " doctor, what the hell?..." I began, but the doctor interrupted me by pushing my breasts together with his hands. Waves of panic washed over me, blotting out any other emotion that might have been there. I pulled away and slapped him, hard. " Doctor, snap out of It!" I yelled. What had I been thinking, giving him drinks? He'd never been drunk before. " You damn idiot," I muttered to myself. Calming down, I noticed the doctor had ...upchucked over the side of the longboat. I didn't care. Beads of sweat were running down my face, I felt exposed, and I wanted to get back to the ship NOW, tell John what had happened, hug him, and let him tell me it was all right, like he did when we were little. But I couldn't let the doctor see me panic. So I calmly turned the little boat around and headed toward the ship, all the while listening to the doctors elongated apologies.

When we got back to the ship, I stepped out of the longboat, intending to get out of the docking bay before the doctor. But, the doctor grabbed my hand. " what do you want?" I snarled, snatching my hand out of his. Now that all the panic had gone, I was so angry with him. I could feel the anger boiling inside me, ready to erupt like some hyperactive laser cannon.

" I..." the doctor stammered, "I'm sorry..really sorry. I won't tell anyone, I swear."

Thinking back, I was a good apology (for a nitwit), but I was too angry to care. All my life I had avoided being touched like that, even by the toughest rockals, and yet i hadn't been able to avoid this..this nitwit, this, twerp. " keep your useless apologies to yourself, Doctor," I said. He stared at me, looking helpless. That did it. The anger in me overboiled, so I did the thing that would satisfy it most, next to killing him. With a loud hiss, I flattened my ears against my skull and swiped him across the ear with my nails. Then, I walked off, quickly, before my anger rush ended and I actually realized what I had done.

I told John what had happened. By that time I had been crying, so I'm not sure he heard the whole story. But he definitely heard the part about the Doctor touching me. He was angry as well, but I told him (while he was hugging me) that that the doctor already had a horrible scratch on his ear, so he decided not to go rip the doctor to pieces. I still don't know if that was a good or bad decision. "I'm so glad you're here, John" I whispered. Just then, the ship lurched to one side. "what the hell?..." I said. The ship lurched again. There was probably nothing wrong, just a few strong gusts of wind. But the crew seemed scared, so I went up on deck to see what was wrong. " John, wait for me by Mr. Turnbuckle" I whispered to him. I ran down from the platform. The winds were whipping up. The sky had turned red. My hair blew wildly around me. I saw the doctor, staring, terrified by the rail, transfixed by something I couldn't see. "Doctor,"I yelled over the wind, my anger with him forgotten," what is it?".

" It's.. the star Plimusive, It's gone supernova!," he gasped.

I looked. Now I could see it, through all the smoke it was creating. The ginormus star was exploding, and we were right next to it. It was all I could do not to scream. Fear leaped inside me. I felt my ears snap against my head in a gesture of aggressiveness. I ran turned to run back to John, and discovered he was already right behind me. " put on all life lines, Mr. Arrow, " I yelled as loud as I could and hoped that he could hear me. He obviously did, because a second later,

" PUT ON YOUR LIFE LINES". He thundered, so the whole ship could hear him.

" tie down the sails" I said, using the same tactic.

" TIE DOWN THE SAILS" he roared, catching on.

My heart was beating wildly, my eyes were huge, I was clinging to John, and I was trying really hard not to lose it and run around screaming uselessly. It really didn't help when the doctor said,

" Captain, the star, it's...it's dewoven into gasp a black hole. And were being pulled into it"

the crew lost it. I ran to the recently deserted steering wheel, and grabbed it, attempting to steer the ship away from the black hole. But to no avail. Then the black hole started to give out waves. The damn things started rocking the ship more, making it unable to control. I almost lost my footing. I was on the verge of tears. Not only from fear, but from frustration. "blast there waves, they're so deucedly erratic" I said to myself. But the doctor must've heard me, because he then said,

" no, there not erratic at all! There will be one more in exactly 47.2 seconds, and it will be the biggest of them all"

" Brilliant!" I said, hope and excitement growing inside of me. " we'll ride it out of here!" the doctor looked shocked.

"but..but" he stammered.

" ALL SAILS SECURED!" Yelled John

" Good man, now Unfurl them again" I yelled.

He looked confused, but all the same saluted me and yelled, " UNFURL THE SAILS!"

I heard someone (probably Mr. Patricia) yell "make up your bloomin' minds!"

I saw Mr. Hawkins running to his post, when it occored to me: we needed someone to secure the lifelines. "Mr. Hawkins," I yelled, " secure those lifelines" He obviously heard me, for he automatically ran over to the lifelines.

" Amelia" someone whispered.

I turned around. It was John. " what is it, John?" I asked.

" we need someone on Mr. Hawkins station, while he's securing lifelines" he said

" I'll go" I replied, moving toward the mast. John held me back.

" no," he said "I will".

"John, no" I protested.

" yes" he said. " and If anything happens, take this," he reached inside his coat and pulled out a locket, with an A carved into it. It was the last Arrow family heirloom.

" don't worry, nothing will happen," I said, and hoped with all my might that it was true. John smiled at me.

" of course not. I'll be back in a few minutes." he assured me.

" right" I smiled, " I love you, john"

"I love you, too, Amelia" he replied. Then he strode off in the direction of his post.

My heart was pounding. Would we make it through? I didn't know. Then, everything happened very fast. the sails came unfurled. I heard someone yell, " Amelia!" . We sunk into the black hole. I felt like I was drowning, suffocating. Then, with a fiery blast from the last wave, we shot out from the hole and away from the supernova. Everyone fell down, and I was torn away from the steering wheel and slammed against the mast behind me. My head hit the mast hard, and stars danced in front of my eyes. Then, they cleared, and I saw the calm, clear night sky again. We'd made it. I stood up, straitening my clothes. I walked back to the platform. There, I found the doctor, who was untangling himself from a coil of rope. I stood in front of him.

" captain, that was the most..." he began.

" oh tish-tosh" I said, cutting him off, " Actually, your astronomical advice was most helpful, doctor" I saw his eyes light up with hope.

" well, " he said, " I have more to offer atomomically.. I mean... amatomically...no... I mean"

I walked away, not wanting to spend two hours listening to him try to pronounce, " astronomically".

Once I was on the stairs, I turned to the crew.

" we made it" I said. The crew erupted into cheers, yelling and stamping their feet. " good job securing those lifelines, Mr. Hawkins," I said. I saw him and the cook smiling and nudging each other. It looked like Mr. Silver had finally found a friend.

" All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" I asked. John didn't come out of the crowd. Then Mr. Scroop came forward.

" I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost, his lifeline was not secured," he said, handing me John's hat.

Silence. _No, _I thought_ no,no,no, not John, please not John._ There was nothing I could do. He was gone.

"_His lifeline was not secured" _I glared at Mr. Hawkins.

" I swear, I checked them all" he protested, running over to where the lifelines were. And, lo and behold, there was one missing. My eyes filled with tears. I felt a knot on my throat. I would not cry in front of the crew. I would not. I glared at Mr. Hawkins again. I hated that boy. I wanted to kill him. But I had to say something to the crew.

" Mr. Arrow was a fine spacer, finer than most of us could ever hope to be,." I said, trying to keep my voice strong. " But he knew the risks, as do we all." The knot tightened, and I felt as if I would cry if I said another word. But I had to finish " Resume your posts. We carry on." but I couldn't carry on. Not without John. I walked quickly to my room. The doctor stopped me.

" captain...I'm sorry, really.." I shoved him out of the way, and ran into my quarters, slamming the door and bolting it behind me. Finally alone, I let my tears flow freely. I didn't care if it wasn't proper. I had a good reason to cry. John was gone. Never again would I talk with him, teasing him. Never again would we joke with each other, me calling him Arrow, and him calling me Ma'am. I would no longer be able to go to him, telling him all my fears and secrets. I would never feel his arm around mine, comforting me, knowing that he'd always be there for me. I remembered how we used to laugh together, how we played pranks together. We'd done so much together, but it was over. My brother was dead. I thought about us, all these years, never thinking that we'd be separated. I looked at the necklace that I kept, hidden beneath my shirt, **Amelia & John, Best friends**, It said. John had a matching one. But it was gone, Like him. I remembered his last words to me, "_Don't worry, I'll be back in a few minutes. I love you Amelia_" then I thought of something. The voice calling my name during the storm. John. It must've been. No one else called me by my name. His last breath had been used to try and contact me, try to tell me he would still love me, even after death. I started crying harder than ever. I took my bottle of wine off the table, and drank it all.

two hours later, I had drunk five bottles, and was still sobbing. I heard the door open. The doctor came in. I could hardly see him, my vision was so blurry. I had finally drunk to much. The doctor came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. " doctor, go away" I said.

" Alright, I will," he said gently " but right after I tell you something. You..."he stopped short as he saw my empty wine bottles. " you've been drinking?" he asked, astounded.

" what's wrong with that?" I sobbed. " oh John, John" I was too overcome with loss and pain to listen to anyone.

" I know rockels can drink a lot of wine, but you can't, you'll kill yourself" he said worriedly

" I don't care" I said, " then I'll be with John"

" but you're hurting yourself because of his death. He wouldn't what that, would he?"

I once again started sobbing hysterically, remembering all the things we had done, been through together. I was gasping, losing control of everything, and falling into nothingness, falling...

" Here," I heard the doctor's voice say, " drink this" I felt a sweet liquid slip down my throat. It brought back a faint memory, one before John. Then, without thinking, I fell into the warm, fluffy clutches of sleep.

When I woke up, two hours later, I felt content. Then I remembered. John was dead. I sat bolt upright. The doctor was sitting next to me.

" doctor?" I muttered, remembering the drink he'd given me. " did you drug me?"

" Oh, goodness, no" said the doctor. " I simply gave you milk, which, it seems, makes cats fall asleep". He smiled good-naturedly at me. I felt a little pang of compassion. I mentally shook myself. How could I be feeling like this about someone, so soon after Mr. Arrow's death?

" Doctor," I said, maybe a little too harshly, " get out of my quarters".

"Alright, but if you need someone to lean on, I'll be here".The doctor left, making me feel more empty than I had before._Whatever_ I thought. I climbed into my hammock, thinking how much things had changed since this morning, and fell into a pain-filled and troubled sleep.

I dreamed a very strange dream that night.

_I walked into a light filled room, with golden walls. It was empty, except for a golden fountain, spouting golden liquid. I heard a noise behind me I turned to see a transparent being. Without thinking, I knew it was John's ghost. " John!" I cried. He turned toward me and smiled. I smiled back, tears sliding down my cheeks. I reached out to touch him, and found that I could. I wrapped my arms around him. " John...John... I sobbed. He patted me on the back, and I felt a tingling on my left ankle. John held my hand for a moment, then saluted me and vanished. I looked at my ankle. Tatooed on it was a small heart with the words "I will love you always."_

I woke up crying. I looked at my ankle, I was the same as in my dream, the tattoo was there. I smiled, knowing that, somehow, John had given me something to signify that our love would last always and forever, like he'd said. " John, I love you," I whispered, clutching his hat to me. Tears once again started streaming down my cheeks. I didn't know how to move on without him. Then I remembered the doctor's words _"if you need someone to lean on, I'll be right here"_. I checked my clock. 5:00 A.M. I hoped the doctor was awake. I walked out of my quarters, over to the doctor's. I opened the door, to see the doctor, fully dressed, sitting in his hammock, reading. " Doctor," I whispered. He looked up, and his face broke into a gentle smile. I realized how nice he looked that way, how kind. I slapped myself. I couldn't keep thinking like that, especially right after John's death. " doctor, I need to talk to you...

The doctor and I talked a lot after that. He seemed to understand my grief, and took all my verbal and physical outbursts calmly, even when they were directed at him. I felt a small friendship developing between us. I told him all about my life, and he told me about his life. I was very startled to learn that he'd taught himself all ten of the galaxies minor languages, two of the four major languages, and learned the third (flatula) in high school, he'd already known the fourth, montressian, as he _was_ montressian, (most of us are). "I took Procyon," I told him.

"Why?"

" So I curse at them in their own language"

the doctor looked like he thought that was a silly reason to learn a language, but didn't voice the thought.

I explained how Trevor and John Arrow had changed my life, ( I cried at this part). He explained how all his siblings had died in an accident when he was ten, and he cried too.

We started to talk late into the night,( which was the only time I could get away from my papers and whatnot), sitting out on the rigging or the railing, our feet hanging out into empty space. I taught him about battle statistics, and he taught me about the finer details of astronomy.

" What do you know about being a doctor besides astronomy, anyway?" I asked him on during our third nightly conversation.

" Well, I know how to sense wind direction, thanks to my nose" he replied. _ So, _I thought,_ that's what that overlarge thing is used for_. " and what do you know about being a captain, besides battle statistics?" he asked me.

" how to act tough, keep my cool under pressure, be commanding, deal with mutiny, and I know a lot about ships and weapons." the doctor looked like he thought that was too much for a living person to know. "not to mention my large vocabulary of swearwords" I said

the doctor looked shocked. "swearwords?" he asked, incredulously,

" in every language," I replied.

I could not believe how much more... intelligenthe seemed, now that we were friends. It was hard to think we had once been enemies. He was so nice to talk to, and so different from the stupid, bumbling fool I had met three weeks ago.

During the day, when he could, the doctor would stop by my stateroom and try, unsuccessfully, to help me with my work. It wasn't annoying, though. In fact, I started looking forward to him barging in.

There were times when I found myself thinking about him, the way he looked, smelled, the way he'd looked at me, and started to wonder if it was just a simple friendship developing. Then I would shake my head, as if to rid my brain of the thoughts, and remind myself that I wasn't going to feel like this toward anyone, ever.

As my friendship with the doctor grew, I started to notice other ties. Silver and Mr. Hawkins definitely had a strong bond, and Mr. Patricia seemed to be in love with Mr. Scroop (not that Scroop loved him back). I also noticed that the crew seemed to have some kind of connection to Mr. Silver, as if he were their captain. I worried about this, but not much. They also seemed to break into groups, whispering, but stopping whenever the doctor or I walked by, which seemed suspiciously mutinous. But, I was confident that, if they mutinized, I would be able to handle them. Besides, all the weapons were locked up. They wouldn't mutinize. I was sure of it. I was brimming with confidence and new energy. I was ready to except John's death. I began to think of myself as invincible once more. I thought my life was finally coming back.

I was a fool.


	3. Pain

On the morning of the first day of our fourth week in space, I was awakened by being dumped out of my hammock. " WHO THE HELL JUST DID THAT!" I yelled, once I had figured out why I was on the floor.

"I-I-I'm sorry captain," I looked up, and saw the doctor standing over me, looking exited, practically bouncing up and down.

" Oh, it's quite all right, doctor" I said, now more curious than annoyed. " now, why are you all exited?"

"It's treasure planet. They've spotted it!" the doctor beamed

I was shocked. Then excitement flooded in. This is what I'd secretly wished for the whole journey, that treasure planet was real. And my wish had come true.

" doctor, that's wonderful!" I said. The doctor's smile widened, as though making me exited was the best thing in the world. I felt a pang of some feeling in my heart. Love. No, not love. Friendship. Our small moment was ruined when Mr. Hawkins burst into the room.

" Hawkins, what are you doing in my quarters?" I demanded, furious. I couldn't believe that he had invaded my quarters. I felt like scratching him. Well, I did until he spoke again, and said something that filled me with alarm.

" Captain, the crew... it's...Mutinizing."

I was stunned speechless. But only for a moment. " mutinizing?" I asked, alarmed. For a moment, I let my panic overtake me. _Why did they mutinize,_I wondered _.Who started this? Will they kill us? Is it really just me, hawkins and the doctor against the rest of the crew?_I wanted John to be there. He'd know what to do. _John, why John? You can't fix this without him? I thought you didn't need anyone. _Said a voice in my made me regain my senses.

" the crew...they're pirates...and Silver's leading them" Hawkins added. He hung his head, ashamed that his friend had betrayed us.

I was furious.I hated pirates. Pirates had killed Trevor Arrow. " Pirates on my ship?" I yelled. "I'll see them all hanged!" I was angry, but I had too act fast, or the pirates would get us. I wrenched open the door to my cabinet, and grabbed the pistol that I kept in it. I tossed it to the doctor, saying, "Do you now how to use this?"

"well.." he stammered studying the pistol, " I've seen these a few times, and.." he lifted the pistol and accidently pulled the trigger. It shot right past me, barely missing me and smashing a clock John had given me for my fifteenth birthday. I glared at him. I heard the crew from outside, yelling, then a splintering sound, followed by shots. They'd found the guns. Then I heard the sound of cracking metal. The pirates were trying to break through the lock on my door. My heart thudded in panic. It was only a a matter of minutes until they got it open. I fought down the urge to scream. " Doctor, Hawkins, we have to take desperate mesures." I tossed the map at Mr. Hawkins. "Gaurd this with your life," I told him. Just then, that pink blob of a morph dived at the map and caught it in its mouth, the only apendage it seemed to have.

"Morph, give it back," Said Hawkins angrilly, playing tug of war with the stupid morph, who was giggling. Mr. Hawkins wrested it out of the morph's grasp.

I heard, from outside, Mr. Silver saying, "Get out of t'er way, yeh' idiots." _He's going to blast down the door with that goddamn mechanical arm of his_, I thought. Panic once again overtook me. _I'm going to die the way Trevor did, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die._

I fought the panic, and won. I needed to get us out of my stateroom without using the door. There was only one thing to do. I took my shotgun off it's hook, and aimed it at the floor of my stateroom. The wood floor made of sentiwer tree bark, that cost me 5,000 gold coins to have put into the ship. I aimed my shotgun at that expensive floor, and shot it. That's right, I shot a hole right through it, gaining acess to the floor below, which led to the long boats. "Go!" I yelled, shoving Mr. Hawkins toward the hole. He jumped down, the doctor did the same. I looked back just in time to see the door blasting to pieces. Then, I jumped.

I ran down the corridor, with Hawkins and the doctor in front of me. From behind me, I could hear the sound of the pirate's feet behind me as they chased us. My heart was beating faster than it had ever beat before. It felt like it was about to burst. I was going to hyperventilate. I shot behind me and was pleased to hear someone cry out and fall. See, I wasn't just scared. I was angry.

" curse you, damn idiots from hell!" I yelled over my sholder as we ran down the set of stairs that led into the docking bay. The doctor tripped and fell on his face at the bottom. Out of reflexes, I grabbed him and threw him into a long boat. Then, when I had made sure that Mr. Hawkins was through the door, I slammed it shut and sealed the lock with my shotgun. I ran over to the lever that oberated the door at the bottom and pulled it. The door started opening. The longboat that hawkins and the doctor were in started going down. I looked at the door. The pirates were trying to blast it with their laser guns. I had no other choice than to try and jump into the longboat. I jumped for it, using the floor as a springboard, flipped upsidedown, and landed safely on my feet in the boat. The doctor stared. I was filled with gladness. _We're going to get away_, I thought.

What happened next, well, I blame it on the morph.

The boat slid smoothly down into space. I really thought we were going to make it out when...

" HEY MORPH!" yelled Mr. Hawkins, "GIVE IT BACK, YOU BLOB FROM HELL!"

I looked. The stupid morph had gotten hold of the map, and was flying around with it. Hawkins jumped out of the boat and started chasing the morph. Just then, the door gave way. Pirates poured in. I knew I had to distract them from Mr. Hawkins. I aimed and fired my shotgun. The crew looked over and started shooting at us. The doctor took my cue and started shooting at the pirates too, except that he covered his eyes every time he shot. No one had been hit. Yet. Then Silver ran over and pulled the lever to the door. It started sliding shut again. I didn't care at that point

"Shoot and miss you pus filled boils!" I yelled, daggers of anger plunging into my heart. Then the doctor hit a tank on the ceiling. It crashed onto the floor and broke it, sending several pirates (including the one who spoke flatula) falling into space. I was impressed. "Doctor, did you actually aim for that?" I asked, knowing he might have done it accidently.

"You know actually I _did_?" the doctor asked, as if he couldn't belive it himself.

I saw a pirate aiming for us, and pushed the doctor (who seemed to be in a state of shock) down onto the floor of the longboat just as a beam from a flare gun shot over our heads. Then I fully noticed that the door was sliding shut, and we were sliding down toward it. "doctor, You shoot at the forward cable, I'll take this one" I managed to say. I felt very...energized. Of course, I was angry and scared, but I felt very energized. It had been six months scince my last battle, and I was ready for action. I shot at my cable. The doctor shot at his. The longboat fell, Mr. Hawkins jumped, map in hand, and grabbed the boat with his hand, and we slid through the door, which was halfway shut. We tipped a bit, and fell through, the back of the boat falling first. The doctor fell off his seat, and Mr. Hawkins was barely holding on. I turned to the control panel and punched in 1_33524_56, which would unfurl the sail. The sail came loose, and the boat stopped falling, and started heading for the planet, I took the rudder. I thought we were safe until...

... "LASER BALL AT TWELVE O' CLOCK !" the doctor yelled. I turned, and saw that, indeed, the ship had fired a laser ball at us. Unfortunatly, they had a very good gunnman. I turned the little boat as much as I could. For a split second, I thought we had gotten away. Then everything exploded, and pain seared through my left side. When the explosion cleared, I saw that the sail had been blown off, as well as part of the back of the ship. I did as much as i could to steer the ship down safely,but it seemed as though the rudder was broken. We entered the planet's atmosphere, smashing through a immense mushroom-like plant and nose diving into the thick vegetation. We skidded for a few seconds, then the boat flipped upsidedown, and stopped. I was flung out of my seat and landed on the mossy ground on all fours. Mr. Hawkins landed on his back. The doctor got a whiplash and landed on his butt. Hawkins recovered quickly, leaping up as though nothing had happened. The doctor, on the other hand, got up slowly, rubbing his neck.

"that was more fun than I ever want to have again", he groaned, tacking off his now broken spectacals and replacing them with the spare ones he always carried with him.

I attempted to get up, but pain flared through my left side, as though it was being sliced by red hot knives. "ahhhhh!" I groaned in pain, falling back down to the ground.

"Captain!", the doctor rushed to my side. I pushed him away. What was I thinking, showing weakness?

" I'm fine doctor, cup of tea and I'll be right as rain" I said, standing up, hoping to sound tougher than I felt. "Mr hawkins, you have the map?" I asked. Mr. Hawkins smiled and pulled it out. Just then it lifted of the palm of his hand, and turned into... The morph. That fat, stupid, morph. It was laughing it's head off. I was mad, but Hawkins was furious.

MORPH, WHERE'S THE MAP?," he yelled. The morph mimed the map going into a coil of rope. "what, it's on the ship?" he said, in shock. The doctor and I sighed. Along with frustration with the morph, I was dissapointed and angry. All this for NOTHING?

Than the pain in my side flared again, and I fell back, landing in the doctor's arms. " I'm FINE!" I yelled, more to reassure myself than the doctor. I straightened and pushed some loose strands of hair back into their places. The pain in my side throbbed dully. Then my sensitive ears picked up the sound of an approaching longboat.

" stifle that morph blob, and get low," I muttered, crouching. "we've got company.

Everyone got down, quivering and tense. The boat eventually flew off to look somewhere else. We all sighed in relief and stood. Well, the doctor and hawkins stood. I raised myself slowly, supporting myself with my shotgun. I didn't want to show any weakness, even though I could feel that I was badly injured. "Mr. Hawkins," I said to the boy. Then, I relized I was adressing the Doctor. I turned to Mr. Hawkins. "We need a more defendable position," I tossed him a pistol.

"Aye, Captain," he said walking off. Just then, my side exploded in pain, making me fall back again. The doctor caught me.

"now, let me have a look at that" he said. I glared at him, despite my pain.

" Take off my clothes?" I asked incredulesly, " did you hit your head, doctor?" I wondered why he'd even consider asking me that.

" no, I hav'nt hit my head at all," he answered calmly, " but you're hurt."

" I am not _hurt_" I protested, even though the pain was making me want to vomit.

" I need to help you" the doctor said softly.

That made me angry. " You, help me?, you're the one who landed me in this mess, hired a jackass crew, and caused the death of my brother by even suggesting this goddamn mission, and you want to HELP ME?" I screamed, forgetting my pain.

The doctor looked upset. " you're in pain" he whispered.

" I AM NOT!" I yelled. There was no way that I was going to let my weakness show.

"yes, you are, and I need to see if you're bleeding or not" the doctor spoke more forcefully than I'd ever heard him speak before.

Than my side flared. I had run out of steam. I felt weak. I was in no condition to argue. so...

" go ahead, look" I sighed. The doctor looked uncomfortable. With trembling fingeres he unbottoned my coat, and gasped.

" doctor, what is it?" I asked, worried.

"oh, nothing, nothing, don't worry" said the doctor, as if to reasure himself as well as me.

He took off my coat.

" captain, I really hope you don't ming...mind," he said, finger trembling at the first botton of my shirt.

" oh, go a head and do it doctor, just get this over with" I groaned, partway from anger, partway from pain.

The doctor unbottoned my coat, and took off my gloves. Then I noticed something.

" Doctor, why, you're blushing" I teased, needing something to cheer me up.

" well, you see, I've never opressed...that is, i mean...obsessed...i mean...undressed, a lady before." he stuttered.

" are you calling me a lady?" I asked, pretending to be offended. Despite my pain, I could still tease.

" no... I... no, sorry captain"

I gigled , but my laughter was cut off by a small scream of pain as the doctor took off my shirt.

" argghhhh" I moaned

the doctor, extreamly upset, tried to soothe me. "Captain, don't worry, it's alright, it's alright", he said comfortingly, placing his hand on my bare sholder. It felt safe, and warm.

" captain, you're bleeding rather badly" said the doctor suddenly, always the one to ruin his own moment.

He put his hand lightly to my side and pulled it back. It was covered in blood.

Great.

Now I was stuck in the wilderness, with a stuttering astrophisysist, lying on the ground with only my bra on, and bleeding.

"Damn," I whispered, for fear that talking normally would incite the hurting in my wound. Then the doctor took a scarf out of his pocket.

" what the hell are you going to do with that?" I snarled, " strangle me and put me out of my misery?"

" no, I wouldn't dream of it captain, I'm simply making a bandage to wrap around your side. But this won't be enough, I'm afraid" he then took his coat, the one he was wearing (which, by the looks of it, cost him about five gold coins.), and ripped a strip from the bottom.

" that should hold it" the doctor said. " now captain, this will hurt a little"

that was an understatement. He wound the bandage around my side, and pulled it tight. The pain was unimamginable. I heard someone screaming, and realized it was me. Then, I saw only blackness.

when I awoke, everything was quiet and dark. I hard crickets chirping, i turned, making my side flare up in pain.

"argh" I groaned. Then I remembered, I was stuck on some goddamn planet, deserted exept for me, hawkins, and the doctor._ And whatever creatures might be living here_, said the nervous part of me. I shuddered at the very thought.

" captain, are you awake?" asked the doctor.

"yes,doctor" I said, and immediately regretted it. Speaking aloud had caused my wound to hurt worse than it already did. I winced.

" Captain, really, it's alright" the doctor reasured me by stroking my ear. I found it very comforting.

That's when I realized it.

No matter what I'd thought about loving a man, I was starting to love the doctor.

_You idiot, you need no one, remember?_ Said the little voice in my head. I brushed it aside. I had more imporntant things to think about than the doctor. Like how to get off this godfrosaken planet, for instance.

" Amelia, do you think we ought to..." the doctor cut himself off, realizing he'd just called me by my name.

" what's that...delbert?" I asked teasingly, calling him by his name.

" well... if it's okay to call you amelia..." he said

" as long as you do it in private" i whispered

" well then... we ought to.."

"shhhhhhhh!" I said, cutting him off. I twiched my ear " I hear something". It was true. I was hearing grass rustling, as if someone was walking through it.

" I don't hear anything" said the doctor

" that's what these are for" I pointed to my ear, "ahhh!"

" what's wrong amelia?" the doctors face looked worried. It was so sweet. I felt a strange urge to kiss him.

" nothing. I shouldn't have moved my arm, that's all" I smiled to reasure him.

I heard rustling again.

"doctor, get your pistol, they might have found us"

by they, i ment pirates.

The doctor aimed his pistol at the rustling sound, which was now getting closer. Then,

"HI!"

An old rusty robot jumped out of the plants. The doctor, taken off guard, shot at it. The bullet bounced off harmlessly. The robot took it personally, however, and started crying. I was shocked. Robots did not cry. They didn't have feelings. They were simplly programmed to do their job and that was it.

Then Mr. Hawkins stepped out.

" JIMMY, THAT GUY SHOT AT ME! HE HATES ME! WAAAAAAAA!" the robot threw himself into hawkins' arms.

" Jim" said the doctor, whose eyes were popping out of his head, " Jim, you almost got yourself killed. "and what is that thing?" he pointed to the robot, who was wailing loudly.

" um... sorry i scared you" said hawkins sheepishly. " and this is.."

"BEN! I'M BEN! I'M JIMMY'S BEST FRIEND! HA!" said the seemingly-on-sugar-high robot.

" ben's a bio-electronic navigator" explained hawkins

I was astounded. "they stopped making those _centuries_ ago, hawkins" I hissed. It was true. They used to be very popular long ago, but they stopped selling. See, they were robots with brains that worked like humans and experienced human emotion (which explained the crying and exitable screaming). They had been expensive to make and but. So when other sellers started offering regular, unfeeling, unthinking robots for cheaper prices, the bio-electronic navigators stopped selling.

" yeah" said hawkins, "but this guy knew captain flint"

That stunned me. So thats why the robot was so old.

" he's missing his memory circut, but he thinks he knows something about the treasure" hawkins said, immeadietly explaining the compleate psyco-ness of the robot.

The pain shot through my side again, reminding me that the crazy, outdated robot was the least of my worries.

" and what help is he to us?" asked the doctor, annoyed.

" he has a place we can hide" replied hawkins, smiling.

there was only one problem with BEN's house. It was about three miles away. There wouldn't have been a problem with that, exept for the fact that i coldn't walk without killing myself. But I would never admit that.

" well, let's be off, then" I said, attemting to stand up. Bad decision. Waves of pain and nausa washed over me. Slumping back to the groung, I vomited.

" Captain!" the doctor yelled, rushing over. He leaned over me and placed his hand on my sholder. I was shaking with the after affects of the vomiting. "Captain, it's alright, i've got you" he said. I relaxed, his voice was so comforting. "Captain, we have to get moving to BENs house. As you can't walk in your present state, I fear i will have to carry you."

" carry me?" I said in shock. Not since i was very young had I allowed a man to carry me. And I certainly did not plan on doing it now. " doctor, I can walk," I said, standing up and attempting to stride foward. I fell flat on my face. BEN broke out in hysterical laughter, along with the morph. I shot them both a glare. That shut them up.

The doctor lifted me up with a look of concern on his face.

" doctor, put me down" i protested angrily.

" captain, you are injured, you cant walk, we need to get to shelter, we are being belated because of your selfish desire to keep your pride, and _I will carry you_" the doctor said this so forcefully that i was taken off gaurd. I realized that, yes, I was keeping the rest of my crew (if you could call two people a crew) from getting to safety.

" All right, doctor, let's go. I said

The walk to BENs house was long and painful. At first, I felt very uncomfortable in the doctor's arms, but as the journey progressed, I began to feel safe, and secure. I knew the doctor would protect me. The painful part was that the doctor often stumbled on roots and other miscellaneous objects on the overgrown path, jolting my side. And every time I cried out. He'd start apologizing thoroughly, as though it would help. Not to mention that BEN, the robot, was skipping ahead of us singing "FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLIES, FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLIES" at the top of his voice.

" Delbert," I whispered, trying to make conversation, " do I weigh to much for you?"

he turnet red. "actually, amelia, you're very flight...I mean light. How much do you wiegh, anyways?"

"60 pounds" I murmured. He looked shocked. I laughed, then cried out because Delbert had once again stumbled. Delbert went back to appologizing. Eventually, I fell into a feverish stupor, and I dreamed that I was being chased, but my legs wouldn't I was falling into a trench, into terrifying nothingness... I woke up sweating. Someone was carrying me. " John?" I muttered

" No, It's me, delbert, remember?" whispered my carrier.

Then I remembered. I was stuck on some planet, John was dead, and I was badly injured. _Well, I guess it can't get worse._I thought as i once again drifted off.

I was awoken unpleasantly by BEN saying "AWWWW, how swEET" I looked around we were in a cave of some sort, a mossy, overgrown cave. _This is where he LIVES? _I wondered. I was leaning on a large rock producing from the ground, and Delbert was standing next to me, obviously just having put me down. I felt something soft under my head. Delbert's coat, I relized.

" I find old fashion roMAnce SO touChING, don't YOU?" BEN said to Delbert, reffering to him carrying me. " A DRINK for the HAPPY coupLE?" he asked.

" we...we don't drink," Delbert, refusing the cups of engine oil he offered, " and we're..not a couple" he added, smiling good naturedly, obviously thinking of what had happened last time we had been drinking. I smiled back. Then I realized I had to give some orders, now, in case anyone had seen me smile.

" Mr. Hawkins," I said, forcing myself up, "stop anyone who tries to approroach. Ahh!" I cried out in pain as my side pulsed again.

" Now _you _listen to _me_," said Delbert, kneeling next to me and pushing me back down, " stop giving orders, for at least a few milliseconds"

" very forceful, doctor" I teased. His face fell. I realized I had hurt his feelings. "go, on, say something else," I prompted, trying to lift his spirit. Then he looked at me... lovingly. And what had been obvious the whole voyage suddenly became clear to me.

Delbert didn't just want to be my friend. He loved me.

This came to me as startlingly as John's death. But the whole matter was immediately dissmissed when I heard BEN yell " HEY, LOOK! IT'S SOME MORE OF YOUR BUDDIES! WE'RE OVER HERE, FELLAS!"

Immedietly followed by a bunch of shots. I guessed that the pirates had found us. Unfortunately, I was right.

" danm you, BEN" I said angrilly. Even though It wasn't his fault. Then the shooting abruptly stopped. I heard Silver's voice.

" If it's alright with t'e capt'n, I'd like to have a word with yeh, Jimbo."

This angered me more than I thought it would. " come to bargain for the map, no doubt" I said, voicing my thoughts, " that no good, damn son of a-"

" _captain_" Delbert warned. He obviously thought Mr. Hawkins was too young to hear what I had been about to say. then Mr. Hawkins voiced a stradegy that I had never thought of: pretend we still had the map. "brilliant" I said dully. I felt the pain in my side coming on again. Mr. Hawkins clambered out of the cave to meet with Silver. I didn't hear any of their conversation exept for at the end when I heard Silver yelling: "BLAST YOU ALL TO _KINGDOM COME_"

well, I kind of heard this, but I was slipping in and out of conciseness.

"doctor," I said, feeling like I had to tell him before I totally fell into a daze, " we must stay together, and..."

"we must stay together and what?" said Delbert urgently. "WHAT?"

Just then I noticed that there was a spark in Delbert's eyes that I had never noticed before. " You have beautiful eyes, Doctor," I said. I felt like I was sliding away from the world. Everything grew blurry. _So this is what a fever daze feels like,_ I thought. Then, I slipped into unconcisness.

I awoke a few times, each to Delbert stroking my ears, or pouring water down my throat. Once I even awoke to find his hand on my forehead. " Are you okay? I asked .

"the real question is, are _you_ okay?" whispered Delbert, stroking my hair.

No man, exept John, had ever done that. And, even if I loved the doctor a bit, I wouldn't allow it.

" Delbert, stop it!" I said harshly, shoving his hand away. He looked crestfallen. But there is a place where one must draw a line.

" where's Mr. Hawkins?" I asked, noticing the boys abcense.

" he left with BEN, to retrive the map. They found the back door" Delbert replied.

That made me angry. I had specifically told Delbert to keep us together. "what's the matter with you?" I yelled, sitting up, "I told you to- argh" I fell down again as pain coursed through my hurt side.

Delbert looked at me pitifully, which made me even more infuriated.

"I'll take the next watch, if you're tired," I offered, not wanting Delbert to think of me as even more of a weakling.

"No, I'm okay," said Delbert. "by the way, why are you being so difficult? You seem as though you must act as though there is nothing wrong"

" showing an inch of weakness will get you killed in space" I replied stonily. " I've already shown enough weakness in this voyage."

" but..."

"DOCTOR!" I yelled. "will you just shut the hell up and get on with the watch?"

"alright" he sighed

"do you have the shotgun ready?"

"yes" he replied.

"good man" I murmured as a wave of pain overtook me and dragged me back into the waters of sleep.

When I awoke, everything was quiet, and the first rays of dawn were beginning to show. As I slowly took in my surroundings, I heard a breathing sound. I rolled over (stifling a gasp of pain ) and found myself face-to-face with a sleeping Delbert. My blood imedietly went cold. Had Delbert DONE anything while I was asleep without my notice? My usually restrained imagination went on overdive. I imagined Delbert sneaking up to me while I was sleeping, pulling down his pants and...

" DOCTOR!" I yelled in compleate panic.

" what?...oh, captain, you're awake.." Delbert said.

"AHHHHHH! " I yelled, still he'd tried to have sex with me. I do not, to this day, know why I thought that.

" CAPTAIN!" the Delbert yelled, panicked, jumping up into a sitting position beside me. "what's wrong? What happened?"

Just then I regained my senses, and realized that Delbert would never do such an awful thing.

" I'm sorry, delbert I thought, well, I was surprised to see you were sleeping next to me, that's all"

" oh...sorry" said Delbert.

" you should be, " I said, regaining my captain personality and reminding myself to never let down my guard again, " you scared the goddamn shit out of me"

Delbert opened his mouth to argue, but just then I heard a sound, a clanking sound, and the sound of many feet tramping on the grass outside.

" delbert, what's that?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

" It's the pirates" whispered Delbert

I was immedietly filled with dread.

" Damn" I whispered

" come on, behind this rock" said delbert, slipping behind the rock and pulling me after him.

To get out uncaptured, I knew we needed a miracle. Unfortunatly, a miracle didn't feel like occuring.

**Well, If you've taken the time to read this far, thanks. Plz review!**


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